Farrell Joins Orange Staff

Heather Farrell, a veteran coach with 18 years of coaching experience at all levels of the game, is joining the Syracuse University ice hockey program as associate head coach for first year Orange head coach Britni Smith. Farrell's resume includes stints as a collegiate head coach, collegiate assistant coach, secondary school coach and as an administrator and teacher.

"I am looking forward to joining the Syracuse coaching staff," Farrell said. "It is an incredible opportunity for me to work with such a remarkable person like Britni at an outstanding institution like Syracuse University," Farrell said. "I enjoy working with student-athletes in their skill development, analyzing game film, helping them become complete players, and challenging them as students in their academic pursuits. In 18 years in the profession, I have coached at all levels, I am passionate about hockey and eager to enhance the overall experience for these student-athletes. Britni and I have similar thoughts and ideas as to how to best move the team to greatness. I appreciate her strong hockey mind and complete investment in the program and the culture of the team. I am eager to get started."

The 2004 graduate of Ohio State is coming to Syracuse after 11 years as the head coach at St. Paul's School, a college preparatory boarding school in New Hampshire.

"I am thrilled to have Heather join our program," Smith said. "She brings a wealth of experience at the prep and collegiate level, which will be a huge asset to our player recruitment and development. Heather believes in, and is excited about, the culture and vision of our program. She is extremely passionate, has a great hockey mind, and is a phenomenal addition to our coaching staff. We are eager to officially welcome Heather to the Orange Family!"

In her 11 years at St. Paul's, Farrell guided the program to a 203-51-7 record, including New England Championships in 2015 and 2020. She was also the associate dean of admissions, director of office management, an advisor for students, and participated on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Justice (DEIJ) Alliance and Affinity council.

Prior to her work at St. Paul's, Farrell was an assistant coach at Bemidji State from 2007 through 2011, where she was responsible for planning team development, including individual skill and team systems/concepts, leading the penalty kill unit which led the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) with a 90.5 percentage, and serving as the academic advisor for the team. She was also a physical education health and sport instructor and served on the Student Affairs committee at Bemidji.

Farrell began her collegiate coaching career at Bowdoin College in 2004 as an assistant coach and in 2006-07 Farrell served as the interim head coach when the head coach accepted a position at USA Hockey. During that season she led the Polar Bears to a 17-7-2 record (11-3-2 NESCAC). Bowdoin lost in the NESCAC Tournament semifinals in overtime. In her two years as an assistant at Bowdoin in 2004-05 and 2005-06, the Polar Bears posted a 54-21-4 record, including 38-7-3 in NESCAC play and played in the 2004-25 NCAA Tournament. She also served as the events/game manager at Bowdoin in 2005, including as the NCAA Field Hockey Tournament liaison that fall.

Farrell, who earned a B.S. in sport studies with a minor in coaching and sport performance at Ohio State, played 132 games for the Buckeyes, scoring 29 goals and 32 assists. She, and led OSU to a berth in the WCHA semifinals as a senior.

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